A marketing major at Liberty University, Jerry Tarr, shares his personal journey about how he got involved in online marketing and the various opportunities that this field has to offer.

Personal Journey to Marketing Success

When I initially walked onto the campus of Liberty University, I knew that I had found my perfect fit. Being a self-proclaimed “marketing nerd,” I found the entire marketing program and curriculum to be right up my alley.

I started my studies at Liberty as a Bachelor of Business Administration with a marketing major and a desire to learn more about the field. Looking back, I can say that this was one of the best decisions that I have ever made. Just a few short months after I started my studies at Liberty, I was awarded a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship which enabled me to further my studies in Oxford, England.

Upon graduating from Oxford with a Master of Marketing, I was offered a job at a top tier agency in New York City and was soon after recruited by Kaplan Inc. to help set up and run their University Acceptance Program. While at Kaplan, I worked on various projects involving digital marketing and was offered my first real marketing job at a New York consulting firm. From there, my career took me to London where I worked as an account manager for another one of the world’s great marketing consultancies, WLSW.com. My time in London was very exciting as I got to work on a variety of marketing projects, some of which involved starting a blog, which eventually grew into a digital marketing agency helping businesses across the world market their products online. Ultimately, this is where I found my passion and started my own agency, J.T. Arrant Marketing.

Why Marketing Is In

The role of marketing in today’s world is evolving, as are the responsibilities of the modern marketer. While many marketers in the past may have just focused on adverting and analyzing the results of these campaigns, today’s marketers must think more creatively and strategically about their role in the consumer-led ecosystem.

As social media platforms continue to rise in popularity and interactivity, marketers need to find ways to effectively engage with consumers on these platforms. This requires a robust understanding of marketing analytics and the ability to craft marketing strategies that not only drive measurable results but also have a positive impact on society at large.

My own experiences as a brand marketer have equipped me with the tools to tackle these challenges. Today, I use marketing analytics, SEO, content strategy, and PR to develop marketing plans, analyze performance, and refine my strategies. This specialized knowledge makes me uniquely qualified to help other businesses and private citizens navigate the world of marketing and branding.

Three Pillars Of Digital Marketing: Analysis, Implementation, and Measurement

Now that you have an idea of how I got involved in digital marketing and the role that marketing plays in an economy, let’s dive into the three pillars of digital marketing that will help you become a successful marketer:

• Analysis: Having a solid understanding of marketing and digital marketing analytics is key to being a successful marketer. This involves gaining a thorough understanding of the metrics and information that exist within the digital world. Analytics allow you to track the success of your campaigns and determine which ones worked and which ones didn’t. The information that you gather through a sound marketing analytics strategy can be used to inform your decisions throughout the entire marketing process. This in turn will lead to more effective implementation and more effective measurement.
• Implementation: Getting your ideas into action is one of the most important things that you will learn as a marketer. You will start your journey toward becoming a successful marketer by implementing what you have learned and using the analysis to determine which methods were most effective. Once you have established a decent body of work, you can move onto the next stage, which is to continually refine the strategy and make it work even more efficiently.
• Measurement: Having a clear idea of the results that you are looking for is an absolute must for any marketer. Once you have established a strategy and worked efficiently with the implementation phase, the last step is to measure the results of your efforts. This involves gathering data on the performance of your campaigns and analyzing these results to determine whether or not you have met your goals. If you are working in a business-to-business (B2B) environment, then you will need to look at the numbers for your own business. If you are working in a business-to-consumer (B2C) environment, then you will need to look at the numbers for your target audience. Having clear measures in place to track the results of your strategies will help you determine whether or not your tactics were effective and will allow you to refine your strategy if necessary.

A marketing analytics strategy that I recommend to my clients is a three-pronged approach. This involves determining what you are trying to achieve, establishing specific goals, and then setting a SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely) goal.

Let’s take a closer look at each of these terms and how they relate to your marketing strategy:

• Determining What You Are Trying To Achieve: Before you start crafting your strategy, you will need to have a clear idea of what you are trying to achieve. This is especially important for B2B marketing because you are working to change someone’s mind about your product or service. If you don’t know exactly what you are looking for, then it can be difficult to craft a strategy that will lead to success. For example, if you are trying to establish brand loyalty in a B2C setting, then you might want to look at a variety of tactics including discount coupons, prize drawings, and word-of-mouth marketing. However, if you are trying to sell a ton of shoes, then you might want to consider increasing your adverting or running a promotion.
• Setting Specific Goals: Once you have set your objectives for the year, it is important to break these down into measurable, individual goals. For example, if you are working to establish brand loyalty in a B2C setting, then you might want to set a goal of getting 5,000 emails addresses for your email marketing campaign. When you set specific goals, it can be helpful to set a benchmark as to how you will know that you have reached your goal. For example, if you are working in a B2C setting and your goal is to get 5,000 emails, you should set a benchmark of getting 1,000 emails per week. This will give you a clear idea of whether or not you are achieving your goal. If you are not achieving your goal, then you can either adjust your strategy or set a new goal.
• Establishing A SMART Goal: Another very important concept to keep in mind as you are establishing your marketing strategy is that of a SMART goal. A SMART goal stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely. These are all key terms that you need to keep in mind as you are setting your marketing strategy. To keep things simple, let’s take a quick example of a SMART goal. If your goal is to get five signatures on a petition, then you would want to set a SMART goal of getting one signature per day. This is measurable because you can determine how many signatures you have obtained by counting them. This is achievable because you can get one signature per day, even if it is not every day that you make a concerted effort. Realistic because you can determine your expectations realistically and set a deadline for yourself.
• Deadlines Are Important: It is important to set deadlines for yourself as you work toward establishing a marketing strategy. This is especially important if you are working in a B2B environment. In a B2C setting, you may want to set deadlines for when you will complete certain tactics or phases of your strategy. Having these deadlines gives you something to work toward which motivates you to continue in the process. The same concept applies to when you will measure the results of your strategy. If you set a deadline for yourself to start measuring the results of your strategy, then you will be more likely to meet this goal. The key is to find something that you can measure and track, so that you can see the results of your efforts. This will ultimately lead you to establish a more effective strategy.

Key Takeaways

The role of marketing in today’s world is evolving, as are the responsibilities of the modern marketer. While many marketers in the past may have just focused on adverting and analyzing the results of these campaigns, today’s marketers must think more creatively and strategically about their role in the consumer-led ecosystem.

As social media platforms continue to rise in popularity and interactivity, marketers need to find ways to effectively engage with consumers on these platforms. This requires a robust understanding of marketing analytics and the ability to craft marketing strategies that not only drive measurable results but also have a positive impact on society at large.